The current global health pandemic is shaking the foundations of the international community of states, possibly to its core. Those foundations still reflect mid-20th c. political-legal thought, institutional structures, and procedural behaviour. Over the past quarter-century or so, we have
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On 26 March, as COVID-19 was pushing countries into defensive lockdown, former Swedish Prime Minister, Carl Bildt, called for a ‘much stronger global mechanism’ than the World Health Organisation to deal with future pandemics. Writing for the Australian Strategic Policy
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I recently took office as Secretary General of the largest global interfaith organization: Religions for Peace. Its six inter-religious councils (IRCs) are composed of the most senior leaders representing their religious institutions in 90 countries. This was one week before
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The upheaval that Covid-19 is causing in people’s lives around the world is wreaking even greater havoc in the global economy. The impact will be far larger than the damage caused by the Global Financial Crisis. The remedies will have
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The pattern ahead of the annual UN climate conference in November 2019 (COP-25, Madrid) was spectacularly familiar: over 25,000 participants; worrying reports from climate scientists; more public anxiety about climate change; mobilisation of civil society, with youth to the fore;
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In this final part, I wrap-up my thoughts on the fundamentals of university reform consistent with, and responsive to, the emergence of the global community. Having argued to date that there is no magic sauce, no equation, no single road-map
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Legal personality is an established part of the law in New Zealand and similar countries. It is widely accepted, for example, that a company or incorporated society can be considered a legal person. Over the last half-century, however, the argument
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Last month, I offered the view that universities in the emerging global age need to conceptualise themselves as centres of collaboration for the collective creation and dissemination of knowledge. I believe that the future of higher education (HE) is, actually,
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In his December column, former ambassador Colin Keating outlined the concept of a research project which the Centre is about to undertake on Strengthening Multilateralism through UN Reform. This project has its genesis in a speech that Colin gave on
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Eco-grief and Artivism. Both are new terms to me, but they’re beginning to define my life in Australia. As a wildlife artist and animal lover, I’ve been so deeply affected by the devastating bushfires that it’s been hard for me
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